


maple syrup shouldn't play this big a role in people's lives

by zoe_ena



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Gen, I feel like Kevin talks more in this than in the whole show, Kevin needs a character arc, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-09-29 20:32:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10143410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zoe_ena/pseuds/zoe_ena
Summary: The gang try to act like friends; so there's a diner dinner, a movie night and eventually some conversations about recent developments.Spoilers up to 1x06 and guesses stuff about/is set after(ish) 1x07.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cactusWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cactusWrites/gifts).



> this teen drama hell keeps me in it's clutches and when will i get good at titles
> 
> also any typos or whatever please let know, my english degree is collecting dust while i care about fictional 15 year olds
> 
> also also this has nothing to do with anything but despite having the same name as a neighborhood in the bronx, I seem to be thinking it's this place in Vermont because i think they have/had a syrup industry

“A sleepover?” Veronica said with an arched eyebrow, “I’ve had that offer made to me recently and the outcome was an experience I don’t want replicated.” 

“I just think,” Kevin said, eyes going around their picnic table, “that with recent developments, knowing that we all have a place to sleep at night,” Jughead continued to focus on his fries, “would be good for our well being, especially now when any,” his eyes cast a glance towards Betty who nodded in admittance, “...obstacles to all of us being together are conveniently out of the way.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell any of us you were sleeping in a car Jug!” Archie said, but it felt like he interrupted.

“It’s not like I’m the only one to keep secrets,” Jughead replied, looking up to match Archie’s gaze.

Betty looked from Jughead to Archie, which Veronica noticed but the bell rang signalling the end of the lunch. The terse end to the conversation was not the greatest, but later texts between classes confirmed that they all would spend the night at Kevin’s house. It was Friday, so they’d go to Pop’s because, of course, none of them could cook at all. Then they’d watch a movie, or do homework, or something. Try to live the typical small town teenage experience of boredom that seemed far and few between what felt like weekly updates about Jason Blossom’s murder.

Kevin showed up at Pop’s early and, shockingly, Jughead was there, a milkshake in front of him.

“That’s not your usual fare.” Kevin said as he slid into the booth across from Jughead.

The server placed the plate of 3 burgers in front of him as he finished that sentence and Jughead smirked at him before taking a bite into one of the three. 

“Oh,” Kevin said and then noticed Veronica coming her. She sat down next to Kevin and ordered her own milkshake. Betty showed up soon after her, sitting next to Jughead, seemingly unsure of what the right amount of distance was to put between them. The four of them sat there, all of them feeling the book bags at their feet, the awkwardness from lunch seemingly coming back as though no time had passed.

Veronica was going to say something this time but she heard Archie enter and call over to them.   
All smiles and conversations about Val, leading to music, leading to classes and the atmosphere seemed more comfortable. They all knew each other and were friends but tonight they all seemed like they needed a bit of glue to help them stay together with each other. Archie was fine being that glue for their conversation in the common ground of Pop’s, his earlier feelings towards Jughead, especially, all seemingly gone.

They ate and laughed, Jughead no surprise having the most burgers, to everyone else’s both annoyance and expectedness.

“No seriously, Jug, I’d have to eat that much if I was going to be a linebacker,” Archie said, smile still in his voice from the tale Veronica had just told at Kevin’s insistence. ‘How do you still look like a beanpole?”

“That, Arch,” Jughead said between bites, “is due to the fact that I am still a growing boy. My body can’t handle the height it’s at without all these burgers.”

“And what about when we were 7?”

“I was taller than you then too.”

Archie laughed and so did everyone else before Kevin regaled them in the latest tale of his illicit affair with Joaquin.  
____________________________________________________________________

After they had all paid, they all piled into Kevin’s car backpacks in the trunk, on the way to what Kevin kept interrupting himself when trying to describe while driving.

“It’s gonna be like--, no it’s more---, that’s not right,” he kept going on as he pulled in front of his house.

“Kevin, I thought we were just watching a movie?” Betty said from the backseat. 

“It’s not a movie, it’s an experience!” Kevin protested, before looking over a Jughead and going, “Not like Manos, the Hands of Fate. Or The Room.”

Archie could hear Jughead whisper, “Those are classics.” Which apparently Betty could hear also because she giggled. Archie, also laughing, realized Veronica was getting out of the car, to presumably get her bag. Archie got out the car in an attempt to be helpful. 

Veronica was already out of the car, bag in hand as she was approaching the front door. So he, Betty and Jughead got their things, shut the trunk and also headed to the front door. Sheriff Keller was at the porch and greeted the four of them before Kevin ushered them downstairs.

“You all know how serious I take any sort of event planning,” he said as he lead them down into their basement, snacks lining any impossibly comfortable looking arrangement of pillows and blankets on what should have been an unappealing couch and spread out on the floor.

Jughead climbed over the back of the couch, grabbing a handful of twizzlers, laid down taking up the most of the couch and called out “Dibs.”

“Oh no you don’t Jughead,” Kevin came over, “This couch is for at least,“ he whispered looking up at the ceiling,” and ideally,” Veronica, Archie and Betty looked a combination of impressed and incredulous, “two people.”

“You’ve had Joaquin down here?” Betty also whispered, voice full of surprise.

“Well, not yet,” Kevin smiled while the rest of them rolled their eyes, “And, probably, actually not in general.” He nodded to himself, putting his plans for the future in action, ”Dad’s hours have been inconsistent but I take what I can get.” by way of explanation.

Everyone accepted that, and Jughead sat up as Kevin pushed his feet down and began to announce the movie he had in store for them. It was a foreign film, black and white with subtitles. The gang watched and occasionally made jokes, the film being so serious and also so bizarre, any group of people slightly raised by MST3K had to at least put up an effort.

The latest twist in the romantic subplot lead to someone to make a Romeo and Juliet joke, and Betty hoped no one noticed the way her gaze flitted to Jughead and back to the screen. 

Unfortunately for her, two of them did.

Kevin went “um.” and tilted his head.

Veronica’s eyes shifted between back and forth between them.

Archie noticed the other’s reactions and was the one to actually say something. “What’s with all the looks?” 

Betty and Jughead looked at each other and then pointedly away, the attention now all on them.

“Syrup war makes syrup hands real sticky,” Jughead said as way of explanation. 

“It’s a Jason and Polly thing,” Betty said, as a follow up to the blank stares Jughead made them get thrown.

Veronica paused the movie and went, “How?”

“There’s this, Shakespeare level feud between my family and the Blossoms, apparently. All having to do with maple syrup? It’s complete nonsense and I cannot believe my parents and their actions.” Betty went on to explain, getting both upset and defensive at the same time. 

Everyone else, save Jughead, looked shocked and after that the movie seemed silly to go back to now that the mood had changed. They talked briefly after that but then they all changed and fell asleep. The epic Kevin proposed has gone on for most of it’s 4 hour run time, so it was past 1 already. And they had all been tired for weeks, anyway.

So they slept.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archie and Jughead and some new events come to light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also yknow, not canon cause 1x07 but when has that ever stopped me before.
> 
> This was meant to be only 2 parts ("meant to") but that's not the case anymore.
> 
> What better time to post than 1am???

Archie woke up, what he thought was first. Mostly because it was dark and a quick check of his phone before getting up to pee showed that it was 3:57am. The cool tile of the staircase on his barefeet made him more awake than he really wanted but his need to pee made him single mindedly focus in his goal of getting to the bathroom. After flushing a toilet that was infinitely louder than the one in his home at any other more dead time of night, he washed his hands and hurried/quietly back to the basement.

He couldn’t help himself when he checked his phone once he laid back down. The brightness of the screen, even at the lowest setting made something clear that he hadn’t noticed before. Betty and Jughead weren’t the basement. Kevin and Veronica both somehow managed to sleep immaculately but Jughead and Betty were nowhere to be seen.

Curious and now more awake, Archie got up again and tried to be even more quiet. He wasn’t sure why he immediately began to attempt to sneak around the Sheriff’s house. Still, going up the stairs they weren’t in the kitchen, which was really his only guess, before he noticed the screen door out the back wasn’t entirely shut.

He walked over to ask them what they were doing, his mind filling with questions. Why were they sitting like that? Betty still seemed upset. Why hadn’t Betty wanted to talk to Archie about whatever was bothering her? Wait, was Jughead leaning in?

Turning away to not feel like a creep for watching his two best friends kiss for some reason at this ungodly hour, he went back downstairs. He was tired and didn’t want to actually deal with what was happening right now. It was still too early/late and he would talk to Jughead when they were at his later or tomorrow. Face hitting the pillow he thought, “This is a weirdly realistic dream.” and then there was all darkness.

Waking up because the sunlight through the high windows hit his face this time, Archie noticed the people who were still asleep. Jughead and Veronica were laid out similar to how he saw them last, sprawled and immaculate, respectively. Checking his phone, he went up stairs, intending to brush his teeth immediately but Betty was coming out, fresh band aid on her finger and distracted him with concern.

“Betty, are you okay?” Archie said indicating her finger.

She just smiled at him, and seemed a lot better than last night.

“Oh it’s just, knocked over a glass. Tried to clean up.” Betty said with a laugh, “Kevin was making us pancakes and I can’t sleep past 8 it seems, so I came to help him.”

Kevin from the kitchen, waved while trying to keep the level of mess to a minimum. This was only mildly successful, as he and Betty keep had both managed to spill things and slightly blackened pancakes were piling on plates.

“Man, I don’t even think Jughead will eat that.” Archie said with a laugh which was promptly shut up with the glare Kevin gave him. 

“I’m sure it’ll be delicious,” he corrected, as he went to brush his teeth.   
_________________________________________

Archie strummed his guitar, Jughead on his porch beside him, laptop out, keyboard clacking. He turned to say something to his friend but his friend spoke first.

“Everyone knows they don’t have to keep babysitting me, right?,” Jughead said, briefly pausing in his ever constant typing, ”It’s not like I went full on Into The Wild,” he sounded slightly defensive and the clacking seemed a bit louder as he resumed,”I haven’t been sleeping out in a pile of leaves.”

“A car in the woods is not much better than just the ground, it’s started to get cold Jug. What were you going to do when it started to snow?” Archie asked, trying to keep his frustration at his friend’s bullheadedness at bay and only slightly succeeding. Outside in a small town wasn’t exactly the most ideal place to having a shouting match. 

Archie was going to attempt to change the subject when he realized Jughead was giving him the perfect opportunity, by staring at Betty’s house. He did want to bring up what he saw last night, but he also, didn’t. Jughead seemed to be in the mood to be extra emotionally stunted at the moment, so he went for mildly safer territory.

Turning to look over his shoulder at the Coopers’, he said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Betty’s mom was trying to listen in,” going for a joke that fell flat when Jughead just looked at him over his laptop before going back to his screen, clacking again.

“Speaking of Betty,” Archie decided to just go for it, tired of the awkwardness of him and Jughead not being on the same page. The past summer made him want to avoid that again for the rest of their friendship.

“You’re the one who brought up Betty, Arch.” Jughead replied, eyes roaming the screen, fingers moving across the keyboard, “I’m just trying to be the fusion of Capote and Holden that the world needs.”

Archie smirked, he could still tell when his friend was trying to deflect, even with the slight nervousness of what he was about to bring up.

“I saw you both, last night.” Archie began, uncertain but barreling through before Jughead could jump in, “And just, um, with what you told me at the end of last year, I was confused?” He really meant to sound more certain than that but then again Jughead stopped typing and glared at him. Archie hadn’t seen Jughead that mad since he went to confront Archie’s dad about firing his own father. Now he knew it had something to do with his mom and Jellybean leaving but at the time, Archie hadn’t know that so his attempts to comfort him fell on deaf ears. 

“That’s nothing to do with you, Arch.” Jughead said, his tone going from it’s typical sardonic to a more flat, cold version. “And, trust me, any confusion isn’t only felt by you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will have another chapter, maybe 2. At some point. 
> 
> Maybe once i finish my Jughead hat.
> 
> This hiatus will help make me be creative, is the hope.

**Author's Note:**

> My plan is to have one more chapter, maybe 2. It's not coming easily which is a bit frustrating.
> 
> I really gotta finish this before 1x07 airs, I think I can do this.


End file.
